FOXBORO -- Remember back in August when the football public feared quarterback Tom Brady would end up battered beneath the ill-humored masses then storming through the Patriots' offensive line?

That preseason panic subsided once line coach Dante Scarnecchia worked his usual magic -- into the breach shuffling bodies with various degrees of working parts -- giving way to mass hysteria over a seemingly diminished role in the offense for beloved wide receiver Wes Welker. It seemed the greatness within Julian Edelman simply could not be held back any longer. The torch had been passed. Bill Belichick had lost his mind.

All the while, the Patriots' secondary remained the punching bag of eager skeptics and mediocre quarterbacks.

Rat-a-tat-tat. This was the season the Patriots were going to go down early and hard.

But here we are on Dec. 6 and it is the same old same old. The Patriots seem to always, if not actually fix their problems, make the best of the hand that fate and the personnel side of Belichick's brain have dealt them.

A mountain of statistics paints in numbers the habitual improvement of Belichick's Patriots as NFL seasons slog toward the playoffs. Here is one stat: The Patriots have since 2010 won 20 consecutive regular-season games played after the season's midway point They have not lost a regular-season game in the second half of the season since the 2009 finale in Houston, a game of no great import (it was difficult to tell whether the Patriots were even trying to win), but a game in which they did lose Welker with a torn-up left knee.

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On Wednesday, Brady, still standing tall, acknowledged this improvement trait.

"It's day to day, coming to work focused with an intention to do better than you did the previous day," he said. "So over the course of three or four months, that really pays off."

Not that the Patriots bumble around for three months like some NBA team waiting for the playoffs to begin. The Patriots are 159-51 overall (including playoffs) since the start of the 2001 season, including 38-10 since the start of 2010.

But in December, they are remarkable -- a 42-5 since 2001.

Their late-season grooves do not necessarily translate into Lombardi Trophies. The Patriots have not hoisted one of those since February 2005. But they keep New England forever in the hunt and provide We The Football People scrumptious match-ups like next Monday night's at Gillette Stadium, when the Patriots (9-3) will play the Houston Texans (11-1) in a meeting of the two AFC front-runners to reach the Super Bowl.

"I would be lying if I didn't say we were pumped for the game," said Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo.

Mayo then pivoted quickly toward his Belichickian scripture.

"But at the same time, we're approaching it like any other game," he said.

Belichick isn't playing along with any measuring-stick themes. Yeah, the Texans are good.

But on Wednesday, Belichick said, "We play good coaches, good teams, good players every week."

So really, the Texans are just the Jacksonville Jaguars, but with nine more victories.

Meanwhile, a calm has settled over New England's football populace. Brady this past Sunday in Miami was sacked four times in a 23-16 victory. But he had been sacked only once over the previous four games.

The offensive line has allowed the fifth-fewest sacks in the league (19), so Brady has not been battered, instead throwing 25 TD passes and only four interceptions.

As for New England's pass defense, it is ranked 29th, but the secondary seems to be stabilizing. Safety Steve Gregory has been back four games after missing four games with a hip injury. Cornerback Aqib Talib, acquired by the Patriots last month from Tampa Bay, has been in the lineup the last three games after serving his suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug (he said it was Adderall). Devin McCourty, the fallen cornerback, is becoming a top-notch safety.

"Anytime you can keep guys in your lineup, playing together a number of weeks in a row, it helps," said Gregory.

And too bad about Welker, huh? He of the diminished opening-week role now leads the NFL with 92 receptions (for 1,064 yards), and is headed toward his fifth 100-catch season in six years as a Patriot.

Edelman, who has 69 receptions in 48 games over four seasons (21 catches this season), was Tuesday placed on injured reserve with a broken right foot. Canton will have to wait.

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